Have A Spare $3 Billion?

Looks like the state’s next budget will be even worse than usual, starting out about $3 billion in the red. Gov. Corzine has asked his cabinet to find $3 billion in cuts. One way to cut back is stop hiring politically connected outside lawyers to defend whistle-blower lawsuits. They’re spent almost $1 million on Joe Potena’s case against the BPU after Potena exposed a secret $80 million bank account. Why does Corzine allow that to continue? If AG Anne Milgram allows that to be settled at the last minute after spending that much on outside attorneys, it will be a black mark on her career. What would you cut out to save $3 billion?

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About Bob Ingle

Bob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption" and "Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power". He has won numerous journalism awards and is often a news analyst on radio and television. Twitter @ bobingle99.

29 Responses to Have A Spare $3 Billion?

How would I save $3+ billion? Do what most expense heavy businesses do. Outsource to the lowest bidder (or in the gov’t sense, privatize to the lowest bidder). Make all the State Workers reapply for their jobs. Make them take pay cuts to keep their same job. That would send a dose of reality to them. When the gravy train runs out, having Black Friday off will be the least of their griping.

If there was a yellow covered book called, The New Jersey State Budget for Dummies, this is what it would say.

NJ legislators, in their infinite wisdom and in violation of the very State constitution they swear to uphold, have burdened the taxpayer with so much unapproved borrowing that before one tax dollar is collected the NJ taxpayers owe more than $5 BILLION each and every year in debt service alone.

Subtract the $5 Billion from the budget and for all practical purposes, what remains are government employee salaries, benefits and pensions. Since these rise at an annual rate of approximately 10 percent, again owing to the infinite wisdom and tremendous leadership of our fearless elected officials, you can see why the State is $2.5 to $3.5 billion in the hole every year.

Therefore, the answer to Bob’s question, “What would you cut out to save $3 billion?”, is obvious, there is only one thing to cut but since this has been obvious for 10 years or more and since EVERY year we hear the same thing and since EVERY year the solution is increased taxes, fees and additional borrowing, why should anyone think this year will be different? The only thing different is that this year they have decided to call, ‘increased taxes, fees and additional borrowing’… asset monetization.

This yellow covered book would then go on to chapter 2 where it would explain the unfunded pension and health care liabilities, totaling in excess of $100 BILLION, that are going to be the certain cause of bankruptcy in NJ. But that is another chapter.

Oh and before anyone poo-poo’s my outsourcing idea, remember Trenton outsourced automobile inspections. Regardless of how much of a debacle that is (much like most outsourcing agreements), it still saved Trenton money because it was cheaper to let someone else do it.

And furthermore (I have to learn to have a fully baked idea before posting!), I’m talking about LABOR privatization/outsourcing, not ASSET monetization. One condition of employment would be “no unions”. Go union and you go home. Plain and simple. Then you’d see how much State Workers love their union if they are willing to step down from their gravy jobs for it. On the other hand, it will give them the opportunity to see the private sector side that they claim is sooo much better.

Sadly, back in 1947, the pols enshrined collective bargaining as a Constitutional right.(cf: Constitution of the State of New Jersey; Article I; Section 19) Something else we can thank the Democrats for.fevtkf

First of all mandate that all depts cut back by 5%. This can be acheived by eliminating patronage jobs, proper bidding, attrition and eliminating non essential services. It is time to tighten the belt. AND stop borrowing. The debt service alone is killing us. Unless the state can declare bankruptcy I would suspect that we’re stuck with the benefit package doled out to civil service employees. Realistically there is much that can be done if only the legislature, led by their feerless bearded leader would work toward the benefit of the citizens of NJ instead of their own pet interests.

Easy. Every department gets cut 10%. The sales tax would get rolled back to way down to 5%. See the Laffer curve and watch the state’s troughs fill up. People would start buying like crazy. It worked for the feds and it’ll work here.

All pensions would be outlawed and 401(k) put in their place. Every public school kid would get vouchers to go to whatever school they wanted. Bad schools would close, saving us money.

All salaries for all state employees and legislatures would be frozen until we’re back in black. Same for local government.

Cut pension credits (time accumulated) for part timers like Dick Codey’s brother. That would save on pension payouts in the long run.

Also raise health premiums on retired State workers. Thats what they did on my Father, when he retired from Dow Chemical.

Quit hiring so many State workers, consolidate departments, eliminate the Secretary of State position. Eliminate 15% of the supervisory position. Cut back on government “spokespeople” If the grand poobah can’t say it him/herself, then maybe they shouldn’t be in office. Governor can have one, but everyone else, including our legislators? nonsense.

Shut down the government, except for essentials like police, and revenue producing services like MVC and Atlantic City. No free vacations this time. State workers don’t get paid. Do it for 6 weeks and you’ll have your $3billion.

While the state government is closed, evalutate the departments what we can do without, and keep them closed.

The state’s next budget will be even worse than usual….starting out about $3 billion in the red. And here’s the reasons why.

(1) The Goldman/Sachs “financial geniuses” strategically placed in NJ government when the Bearded Buffoon got elected governor. Corzine on Wall Street was involved in finding ways to take large sums of money from the unsuspecting. A very dirty game played by remorseless people without consciences. Corzine’s own people at Goldman Sachs forced him out.

(2) The state “Investment Council” formed by Machine politicians to handover pension funds to greedy Wall Street types. There is virtually no information about the specific investments, Investment Council members or private money managers on the Investment Council’s Web site.

(3) The “Investment Council” under Orin Kramer (who is a General Partner in Boston Provident Partners LP—a hedge fund formerly known as Kramer Spellman LP). The secrecy surrounding pension fund investments has escalated. KRAMER DICTATED THAT NO COMMENTS from the audience are permitted at board meetings. A recent rule change will allow public comment at ONE MEETING a year. Kramer and the other board jokers exempted themselves from disclosure requirements.

(4) The state pension system is under federal scrutiny after a report found Fuzzface and his buddies diverted billions of dollars from the fund for other purposes. (An April NY Times article raised questions about the legality of some of the accounting for pension maneuvers. The Division of Pensions and Benefits was contacted by the SEC.)

(5) Corzine appointed his G/S buddy Bradley Abelow as Sect of NJ State Treasury (he is now Fuzzy’s COS). Abelow put pension funds in iffy investments that now look like Abelow was colluding to prop up failing companies with state pensions funds.

(A)In Abelow’s first month in office, filed in his official 2006 ethics report he put $250 million state pension monies into a company Abelow’s wife was invested in.

(D) Abelow put $1.6B state funds in in Goldman Sachs’ Hedge Fund Partners. Looks like Wall Street geniuses Corzio and Abelow were propping up G/S Hedge Fund Partners that had reported losses of over 12% for 2006.

(7) Subpoena bank records of all legislators who voted for Schoools Construction funding (and other loot-the-taxpayer measures). Determine the number and location of offshore trips made by legislators.

How about corporate sponsorships of high profile state buildings and properties? “NJ State House presented by Dewey, Cheetem & Howe Attorneys at Law”. I travel on the PA Turnpike frequently and notice the toll booths display advertising on them – I wonder how much money this brings in for PA. There must be some clever people who can raise revenue without always turning to the long-suffering NJ taxpayer (and without selling NJ assets)>

Sell off NJN’s tv and radio stations to the highest bidders, authorize VLTs at the Meadowlands and Freehold racetracks and then auction off the racetracks and their gaming licenses to the highest biggers, raise fares to reduce the state’s $1 BILLION a year subsidy to NJTransit, stop allowing part-timer earning at $1500/year from earning pension credits (lots of ex-politicos hold these jobs.) That’s just a few easy suggestions.

I am no accountant, but in my home, if there is not enough money, I cut back on buying non-essential items,tighten my belt. Not so for our New Jersey governor and legislators. I guess when you are financially well off like our millionaire governor and those politicians sucking as much as they can out of constituents, cutting back is not a concern.

Perhaps if we had real representation state workers would have to pay for their health benefits. Borrowing referendums would be put before the people. Spending on non-essential items like Corzine’s stem-cell research – hey gov, what don’t you understand about no -, hiring attorneys and consultants for million dollar fees for another useless committe. The list goes on ad-nauseum.For me personally, once my house is sold, if ever, I am out of New Jersey. Come on New Mexico.

When a new Governor/executive takes office everyone of the staff is required to submit his/her letter of resignation to the Gov .If he thinks he can get someone to fill that post more efficiently the letter is accepted and the person resigns .This should be required of every state employee ,it would be a tremendous way to get more productivity out of our state employees and school districts .

“everyone of the staff is required to submit his/her letter of resignation to the Gov .If he thinks he can get someone to fill that post more efficiently the letter is accepted”

When did efficiency enter the equation? The question is “who has done more to get me elected and who will be my toady, hatchet man,sycophant (pick one) and, more importantly, who will cover me while my hand is in the cookie jar?”

By Executive Order Corzine (our CEO) can mandate all non-union public sector jobs must:

A) Work 40 hours a week to receive any benefitsB) Immediately go to 401K’s for retirement with retirement at age 65 or your benefits are reducedC) 80/20 Health care co payd) You are fired losing all benefits if you are convicted of a crime / ethics violatione) Put Unions on notice their next contract negotiations will require the same f) Hiring Freeze for the next 5 years

One moreG) Get our leaders out of the way and Put it up for voters to decide on those 98 property tax reform recommendations that went nowhere and

H) How about the long promised Constitutional Convention for Reforms and Referendums ballot questions.

I am convinced career politicians are incapable of making the tough decisions that go against their self-interest or those that support them such as the count leaders and unions…so allow us the taxpayers to decide

Knucklehead ideas like Art Gallagher’s or Gingerbreadman’s sound nice, and help to relieve their anger or jealousy about government workers, but these ideas are not realistic in the long run, and solve nothing. Address the number of school districts and how we fund them, and we can have better budgets.

FOX and FRIENDS,The amount of taxpayer dollars that have been spent so far to protect another political Hack is simply a disgrace. The Million dollars that has been wasted on the BPU Whistle-Blower case to protect Fox and her other court jesters is just the tip of the wastefulness since she was appointed. Corzine continues to protect “One of His Own” not just at the BPU but within all agencies. If Corzine was truly Independent he could greatly reduce the projected budget deficit simply by the elimination of all the political appointments and their grossly inflated salaries and misguided policies.

Knucklehead ideas like Art Gallagher’s or Gingerbreadman’s sound nice, and help to relieve their anger or jealousy about government workers, but these ideas are not realistic in the long run, and solve nothing. Address the number of school districts and how we fund them, and we can have better budgets.

We’re in the mess we’re in and I’m a knucklehead? What impact did the Corzine/Roberts government shut down have on your life? Not much I bet.

I do agree with Annonymous 3:58 about addressing the number of school districts. We should reduce them to zero. Privatize the education system and issue vouchers for the same amount to every school age child’s parent or guardian.

Knucklehead ideas like Art Gallagher’s or Gingerbreadman’s sound nice, and help to relieve their anger or jealousy about government workers, but these ideas are not realistic in the long run, and solve nothing. Address the number of school districts and how we fund them, and we can have better budgets.

Anon 3:58, if you actually bothered to read the original post before inserting your own “anger or Jealousy”, you would have realized that the original question was what would you do to get $3 billion in cuts if Corzine asked you. I agree that forcing everyone to fund the Abbott’s is ridiculous, but that has nothing to do with the State’s wasteful spending. The funding of schools has an effect on the property taxes you pay, not how Trenton spends. Trenton can save money by going through their own house and cut wasteful spending, which is what Corzine is asking the State- not to come up with a new method of funding the schools to save $3billion. That is a tougher nut to crack and a different fight.

If you look at how a business operates, in many times, people are the biggest expense. Salaries, benefits and retirements (pension or otherwise) cost a company a lot of money. The first step a company does to reduce expenses is to change the retirement options and make employees kick in some money for healthcare benefits. They also change the number of holidays/personal days/vacation days. If those cuts aren’t enough, a company will look into eliminating benefits and making employees kick in more. Vision care and even dental benefits take the hit. Certain holidays get eliminated. Not drastic enough? Hiring freezes and making people do more with less. Eliminate jobs. Offer early retirements or even forced retirements. If you need to cheaper, then you start looking into outsourcing. Either it goes offshore or if the outsourcing company keeps the current employees, it happens with a different set of rules. Different holidays, benefits and even salary. All at a cost to the outsourcing company who is offering a lower cost alternative to the company doing it in-house. And trust me, they won’t keep the status quo and absorb the expense.

Now back to the reality distortion field known as the State. More and more employees. More and more spending. No intent of joining the modern era. State Workers complain all the time about how it is much better than the private sector. If it is so bad at the State, why aren’t they leaving in droves? Because the gravy train they’re on would stop. No more low dollar co-pays for healthcare. My out of pocket healthcare is going up $1200 next year- more than likely a good chunk of my raise. I have a $25 co-pay. State workers have less of a co-pay and kick in NOTHING year after year as healthcare costs go up. They let the taxpayer absorbs it. Same thing in regards to the many holidays/vacation days/personal days. And don’t get me started on pensions. Not a lot of companies do pensions anymore. It is all 401k and let the employees fund a majority of it. It is time for NJ to wake up and join the modern era.

Am I jealous of the State Worker? No. Am I angry? Yes. When my tax dollars go to Trenton and I don’t see a great (or even decent) return on my investment, I should be angry. If it were a business, as a shareholder, I could demand certain changes or pull my money. Not so with the State. Unfortunately, with the State, I get to go to the parties, watch everyone have a good time and have to pay the check at the end of the night.

Corzine promised to run this State more like a business. So far, even he hasn’t offered much confidence as a CEO. If it was more like a business, he would have been removed already.

NJ Taxpayers,Write and call co-Governor’s Corzine and Norcross, and your legislators. Tell them there are five ways to eliminate the $3 billion budget deficit.

1) Cut all the pork; 2) Use proceeds from the lottery that generates millions of dollars; 3) Cut the state, county and municipal workforce; 4) Eliminate multiple pensions for legislators; 5) Permit sports-betting in Atlantic City.

Write and call the governor and your legislators from now until they get the message.

How about 25 yrs. and out regardless of what Civil Service title you are in — if after 25 yrs. you don’t have the age you either freeze your pension and find a job in private sector or withdraw it and pay the penalty. No more unclassified appointments, confidential appointments, interim appointments, temporary assignments, no more “leave of absence” from your position so you can accept a political patronage position for a few years to boost your pension. It stagnates the system because your position can not be filled with a permanent employee but rather a “interim appointment” increasing yet another pensionable salary. Everyone who is not cabinet level MUST take a Civil Service Exam and be appointed in accordance with NJAC 4A!

How appealing do you think people would find a Public Sector if these mechanisms were in place? It sure would save alot of money…

It’s a no brainer Bob. Like in every other business, its time to take a serious look at how the State operates and work towards becoming a more effecitve and efficient work force. (But I thought that they were already doing that?????) They need to look at how they provide their services, weed out non-productive workers, and assign more responsibilities to individuals, (they are not killing themselves), and for God’s sakes, START HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE! Let’s start at the top with Jon Corzine.

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Bob Ingle, Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers, on politics in "The Soprano State".

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Bob IngleBob Ingle is Senior Political Columnist for Gannett New Jersey Newspapers and co-author of The New York Times' Best Seller, "The Soprano State: New Jersey's Culture of Corruption." Hear him Fridays at 5 p.m. on www.tommygshow.com radio. twitter.com/bobingle99 E-mail Bob

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